Studying the Violin
in College

Studying
the violin and taking it to that 'next level' can and
should be a very exciting time in a young violinist's
life. Where should you go? What do you want
to eventually "do" (for a living)? How much will or
should it cost you? Putting it all together to
make the best choice and one that really suits you, the
individual.

We could write a book on the subject I am
sure, but as a professional bass player (I play bass in
the Phoenix Symphony) and also one of the top
upright bass dealers in the world, I am always asked
by young players, or player's parents hoping for more
information about just what to do or ideas of where to
look for more information about studying in college and
pursuing music performance as a career.

First, this is a just going to be a brief over view
and in no way, would we ever try to tackle all the
answers or give guidance on what to or where to go.
There's just too much there. I am a parent with
two of my own kids now in college (one is a Forestry
major and the other, Photography!) I can easily
say that they are both very "artsy-fartsy"! One
thing that I would never want to risk doing is control
the passion and enthusiasm my "kids" have for life.
Even said, I am a bit of a reality check sometimes.
Just call me, Mr. Practical for now. Tennessee
Williams once said "if you find a job that you like, you
will never work a day in your life!"

Thinking of a college degree in music and violin?

There are a multitude of questions regarding what,
where, how and even why. Let me begin saying that
I would like to give a perspective on two fronts: one as
a symphony playing professional (going on 25 years!) and
from a parent's perspective (going on 23 years!).

Full time, professional symphony jobs are very few
and extremely difficult to get. Without sounding
like Dr. Doom, let me at least say, that if you look
strictly at the facts and numbers, the percentages and
odds of string performance majors getting a fulltime
position with an orchestra while not impossible, still
very difficult. With the present public school
programs, cheaper instruments, more plentiful teachers
(also making it more affordable) have really created a
lot of very good, very qualified players around the
world.

Here is the quickie version of the process of
getting a top symphony job:

Start on the violin at an early age, (by the way,
talent knows no age) so don't get paranoid if you think
you started "too late". No such thing if you love
it and willing to work hard. You practice many
hours a day, every week, through junior high, high
school, go to a great college, maybe even a Masters
degree and you send in a resume when you see an
orchestra opening (in the International Musician).
You pay an audition deposit (this guards against the
"no-shows") you get your repertoire list (in email or
post), you prepare for this "list" and solo for the next
4-6 weeks, or longer, buy your air ticket, book your
hotel and you go and play. You get...about 5-10
minutes your first round, (you are behind a screen,
anonymous and perhaps one out of 50-100 players!)
All wanting the same one job. Hey, I said this was the
"quickie" version! This then leads me to the next
point: Where to go to college???

Studying the Violin in College

As I previously wrote above, there are lots of violin
teachers. There are a lot of very good violin
teachers. As a hardened professional musician
(well, I am not really hardened...that sounds dark.) I
would ask the following questions to the prospective
teacher: What professional orchestra position have you
had or your students gone to or have? To me, this
is the most important question to all string playing
students (that really want a symphony job) to ask.
Don't be afraid...ask! Your well being and your
future depend on having real, factual and accurate
information. If your prospective college professor
has never held a professional orchestra position (that
you aspire) and is not some top performing solo artist
that also loves to teach, and they have very few former
students "working", I would have to say...perhaps look
elsewhere. For violinists, there are lots and lots
of different kinds of ways to make a living playing and
teaching the violin. There are very qualified
players that choose not to work in a professional
symphony and/or those that prefer smaller community type
or regional orchestras that pay part time kind of
salaries, but also teach on the side. On the side?
Some really good and experienced violin teachers can
have an incredible career happily teaching and some have
huge studios (30-60 students a week). At $20-50
per lesson and even more in some cases, you can do the
math. Somewhere there is a happy balance.
The word "happy" is key here. Music majors tend to
be smarter in general and another great idea is to get a
'double major'.

Music major and engineering?

So many of the students that I knew at school,
evolved into other fields. I went to a great music
school (Indiana University) and a lot of my fellow
students are in professional orchestras now. Just in my
own symphony, there are 12 former Indiana people of
varying age. Music students are smart! A lot
of the people that didn't go on to professional music
careers, even though they got the degree, either got a
double or cognate field at the same time, or went into
an entirely different field afterwards. (Just in
my own graduation class, there are doctors, lawyers,
scientists of different fields). Pretty cool I
think...which again, makes me say: music majors are
smart! After studying for years and spending hours
dedicated to practicing their instrument, this alone
shows some serious sacrifice....knocking down an extra
year or two in a different field and spending the
necessary study time, easy! (Easy for me to say at
least.)

Some schools give scholarships.

Yes, I know of more than a few bass players (again I
play bass) that after years of practice and good money
spent on teachers (parents take note), they decided that
while they love music still, maybe want to study
something else in college. Some top universities desire
to have the best players in their school and maybe not
enough players to balance out their school orchestra or
studios will offer sizeable scholarships to attend that
school, as long as they play in or study the violin
there, even IF they choose another major! Is that
cool or what??? Please don't contact me and ask
which ones. Every school is different and it
changes year to year. This is your due diligence
time.

Do what you love.

Again, I go with "find a job that you love and you
will never work a day in your life". Life is short
and I think that if you love what you do, you will do
whatever you have to (working hard) do succeed.
Something will work out and at the same time, don't pull
the wool over your eyes and don't be afraid to look at
and ask the toughest questions. Last but not
least....buy your
violin strings
from us!!!!

Here's helpful information for customers unsure
about which violin strings would best suit their needs and more related
links: